


Birds and Bats

by AutumnSun



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Under the Red Hood
Genre: Gen, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd Needs Therapy, They all need therapy, but also canon compliant undeath, canon compliant death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-25 22:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14388210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnSun/pseuds/AutumnSun
Summary: Gen, short stories about the batfamily.1: On some Earths, he is alive. On others, he dies. (Under the Red Hood)2: Bruce won't kill the Joker. Jason activates the bombs. There are three second left on the timer. (Under the Red Hood)





	1. Alternate Realities (Jason, Bruce)

**Author's Note:**

> 1: On some Earths, he is alive. On others, he dies. (Under the Red Hood)  
> 2: Bruce won't kill the Joker. Jason activates the bombs. There are three second left on the timer. (Under the Red Hood)

In a different universe, Batman arrives at the warehouse on time. He breaks down the door and grabs Jason and _runs_ and Ethiopia leaves scars, but both of them are alive to feel them.

In another universe, it’s not Batman, but Nightwing who is carrying Jason away and shielding him from the heat and fire and death. The realities continue to spiral out this way, universes where the second Robin lives because of Batgirl and his mother and loose locks.

There are worlds where Jason is never in the warehouse and worlds where he dies and never comes back.

There are a handful of universes where Batman is thrown back from the explosion and finds his son dead and grieves and falls into darkness and then they’re standing in an abandoned house and Jason is asking him to “choose, him or me!”

In one, Batman is not Bruce and Jason could never be his son and even with a scarred grin, Thomas could never stop loving Martha. Still, his arms swing up, the weight of an eight year old corpse hanging off his limbs, and he pulls the trigger.

In another, Batman turns away and turns back to late and Jason has pulled the trigger and Joker is hanging limply with blood over half of his face and Bruce knows that he can never see Jason as his Robin ever again.

In the worst, Batman turns away and throws his batarang and Joker laughs and the timer is down to a few precious seconds and Bruce is pulling Jason up and then -

He wakes up on the ground.

On a different Earth, Jason wakes up before him and can’t process anything beyond utter _exhaustion_ and he doesn’t look back when he slips away.

In this one, Jason doesn’t wake up.

Bruce’s hands drop away from Jason’s neck and his throat tightens and there is a heavy feeling in his chest. He's kneeling, again, his son in his arms, surrounded by smoke and debris. For a moment, Bruce lets Batman waiver, and he closes his eyes.

Behind him, Joker laughs.


	2. Three Seconds (Jason, Bruce)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce won't kill the Joker. Jason activates the bombs. There are three second left on the timer. (Under the Red Hood)

Bruce grabs him by the collar and the timer is down to two seconds and Jason’s being pushed out the window and then there’s an ugly, familiar heat and _BOOM_ that echoes in his ears and all he can think of as they fall is ‘ _too little, too fucking late_.’

Later, Jason will recognize activating the bombs as desperate. He’ll feel a wave of anger and shame and hurt about the moments leading up to it: finally having the sick green fuck in his arms, needing Bruce to just be there for him this time, and being let down, again.

Fuck Bruce, he thinks to himself as he wipes the blood off his hands from a fucking _batarang._  Fuck Batman.

If the asshole won’t do what needs to be done, if he’s so unwilling to face that darkness inside him, Jason will just have to rain unholy hell on the entire rotten city.

And if any of them get in his way, then he’ll just have to get rid of that whole fucking line of cowards, birds and bats alike.


End file.
